You are free to choose your own essay
topic, in consultation with me and the few listed below are but
an indication of the sorts of treatments that would be accepted
as tutorial and final essay topics.

1. Land tenure is often the cement that
binds together a small scale traditional society. Discuss
land tenure comparatively in at least two Oceanic groups,
comparing their major features.

2. Compare the religious beliefs of at
least two populations, examining them along at least one
other dimension, such as their economy or social
organization.

3. What is the relationship between
history and ideology, as discussed by Sahlins, in the society
that you have chosen? There is a special section of the Outline
bibliography on the Pacific Islands (Open Reserve A 1212)
dealing with Sahlins work and discussions about his approach
to anthropology and history.

4. Anthony Giddens (1984. The
Constitution of Society. Cambridge, Polity Press)
proposes "structuration theory" as a sensitizing
series of concepts for analysing modern society. Show how
structuration can (or cannot) be applied to the material from
your chosen society.

5. Conduct a survey of a South Pacific
Islander group in Sydney, emphasizing, through network
analysis, their adaptation to life in Australia. There are
small enclaves of people from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and some
smaller populations. Your task will be to see to what extent
your chosen group represents a community and how their
traditional practices have survived in Sydney.

6. "Cargo cults" and other
millenarian movements are well-known throughout Oceania.
Compare two such cults, noting differences and similarities.

7. Polynesian navigation has been
revived in the last two decades, with canoes being sailed
throughout Eastern Polynesia. Consider the technical,
historical and political aspects of this activity in modern
Oceania.

8. Gender relations vary considerably
in Oceania. Consider and contrast how two societies
culturally structure gender roles, including their symbolic
representation. Please recall that several Oceanic societies
have more than two genders in your answer.

9. Haunani Kay Trask accused Roger
Keesing of insulting the Hawaiian people by alleging
that population had "invented" their traditions.
Consider what some Pacific Islanders, such as Trask,
Hauofa and others, have had to say about how
anthropologists have represented Pacific cultures.